The MidAmerica region is playing a good hand in the gaming industry, offering casino resorts of the likes of those that pepper the Las Vegas and Atlantic City skylines.
While those West and East Coast destinations undeniably dominate the casino resort scene, new and upcoming developments across the MidAmerica region are making it an even stronger competitor in the high-stakes gaming industry.
Casino resort properties across MidAmerica are playing their cards right, upgrading their spaces, expanding their footprints and entering the gaming industry scene after years of anticipation with a debut that’s sure to leave a lasting impression. Here are four casino resort properties heating up the gaming industry competition in the heart of the U.S.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino & Resort
The Illinois Gaming Board gave approval to Wind Creek Hospitality to operate and develop a four-diamond casino and entertainment destination in East Hazel Crest, Illinois, in December 2021. Construction began the following September, and two and a half years later, on April 11, the full Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino & Resort experience opened to the public.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino & Resort first debuted its state-of-the-art casino experience in November 2024, introducing a 70,000-square-foot space with more than 1,400 slot machines, 56 table games, a poker room, high-limit salons and a sportsbook that’s soon to come.
The property’s luxury hotel and spa welcomed its first guests in mid-April. The hotel features 255-plus guest rooms and more than 40 luxury suites. The resort’s full-service spa, Spa at Wind Creek, is on the 16th floor overlooking the Chicago skyline and offers a range of services including facials, massages, body wraps, eight treatment rooms and more.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino & Resort offers more than 12,000 square feet of meeting space as well as Hidden Gems, described as “unique and customizable private gaming/event microenvironments.”
[Related: The Latest Openings and Renovations at Major Casino Resorts]
Q Casino + Resort
On June 1, 1985, the gaming property now known as Q Casino + Resort debuted in Dubuque, Iowa. Opening as Iowa’s first pari-mutuel racetrack, the site has a history rooted in gaming and has been a gaming-industry staple in Dubuque for 40 years.
The property is celebrating its anniversary in style with an $83 million-plus, five-phase renovation and expansion project expected to be completed late this year.
Phase 1, which included a remodel of the former racing grandstand viewing area to create a temporary casino, and Phase 2—the grand opening of Q Casino + Resort’s remodeled casino and the introduction of Q Showroom (a 3,413-square-foot space with a capacity of 615 people, or 175 in rounds) and Q Sports Book—are already complete.
The completion of Phase 2 late last year also introduced Reflections Event Spaces, a 6,653-square-foot event venue for up to 700 people that can be sectioned into multiple smaller room configurations, and Island Social, an entertainment venue with more than 75 arcade games, duckpin bowling, digital axe throwing, two private event rooms and Island Social Kitchen + Bar.
Phase 4 of Q Casino + Resort’s renovation and expansion project is slated for completion this fall following the opening of The Key Hotel, a new Tapestry Collection by Hilton boutique property located adjacent to the existing Hilton Garden Inn that will have seven floors, 90 guest rooms and suites, a rooftop restaurant, event space and more.
Q Casino + Resort will wrap its renovation project with Phase 5, which will include a remodel of the facility’s facade, new outdoor signage and improved landscaping.
Q Casino + Resort currently offers 116 guest rooms and event spaces such as the 2,100-square-foot Houlihan’s Patio and the 600-square-foot Gold and Diamond Rooms, which can accommodate 80 people combined.
[Related: Stories of Success: How Women Lead at East Coast Gaming Resorts]
Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit
About an hour and 15 minutes southwest of Milwaukee, 60 minutes south of Madison, Wisconsin, and 30 minutes north of Rockford, Illinois, sits the city of Beloit, an authentically Midwestern town on the southern border of the Badger State.
Late last October, representatives from the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin joined numerous Beloit representatives and residents to break ground on the largest economic development project in the city’s history: Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit—a brand-new casino resort that will include a 76,413-square-foot convention center, 18-story hotel with 312 guest rooms, a casino and four restaurants.
The convention center at Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit will feature numerous breakout spaces and flexible event venues that can cater to a wide variety of groups. Visit Beloit, the city’s DMO, will assist Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit in promoting the facility for conferences, special events, tradeshows and more.
MGM Grand Detroit
MGM Grand Detroit celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024 with $15 million of property enhancements, the largest single-year investment the downtown hotel, gaming and entertainment destination has seen since 2007—and there’s still more to come.
In mid-May, MGM Grand Detroit announced a new $20 million capital investment designed to elevate MGM Grand Detroit’s luxury amenities and guest experience.
The renovation will include a refresh of all 65 premium hotel suites with new paint, carpet, window treatments, furniture, mattresses and refrigerators; new furniture in all 400 guest rooms including desks, credenzas, couches and more; an updated guest gym experience at IMMERSE Spa featuring new equipment, flooring and new cabanas in the pool space; a stand-alone space for the MGM Rewards desk near the self-parking entrances by the casino floor; and casino upgrades including new carpeting and a comprehensive overhaul of the property’s HVAC systems to ensure optimal air quality.
“MGM Resorts and our entire team at MGM Grand Detroit are deeply committed to enhancing the guest experience throughout all aspects of the property in an effort to drive consistent and continued visitation to the region,” said Matt Buckley, president and COO of MGM Resorts Midwest Group, in a press release. “We’re proud to have played a key role in Detroit’s emergence as a premier entertainment and hospitality destination, and this next phase of investment reflects our unwavering commitment to pushing that momentum even further.”
MGM Grand Detroit offers 400 guest rooms including nine rooftop VIP suites and 56 corner suites. The property’s 100,000-square-foot casino includes Detroit’s only premier poker room, nearly 150 table games and just under 2,800 slots and video poker machines. MGM Grand Detroit also offers more than 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
